Questions About Damson Plum Trees

My Damson tree is now 3 years old. It flowers well and the tree looks fine each year; however, no fruit ever appears. Following the flowering, the tree looks a bit sad and the leaves curl in places but no sign of pests. My other plum trees in the garden (different types) do well for fruit each year.

Douglas.

Answered by Heather on June 20, 2012Certified Expert

A.

You did not put where you live, so I can't be sure of this, but it is possible that the tree may not be getting enough chilling over the winter. How much chilling varies from variety to variety, so the other plums in the yard may be getting enough chilling for their variety but the damson does not. Without enough chilling the flowers cannot produce fruit.

On an extremely windy and rainsoaked day all my plum trees lost most of their leaves and flowers. All trees have new leaves growing and some fruits but the fruits are tiny and misshapen and very dark in colour. Could this be pocket plum or something else and how should I treat it? Apple and pear trees have not suffered in the same way.

Answered by Heather on June 29, 2012Certified Expert

A.

I don't think it is plum pocket. Normally, with that disease, the fruit have a pockmarked look to them.

It sounds like the plums were affected by a stone fruit exclusive fungus (which is why the apple and pear are fine). It was probably attacking the trees before the storm came, but the weakened leaves and fruit could not handle the high winds.

The fruit you are seeing now is a last ditch effort on the tree's part to produce seeds this year. They will not produce any kind of quality fruit, so it is best to remove the fruit now to prevent the tree from focusing energy on them. This will also help to redirect the energy to the leaves, which will help the trees recover faster for next year.

Some months ago we had a damson tree cut down in a border, some 4 ft from the lawn. Since then damson tree shoots have been appearing in the grass, increasing in number after every mowing of the lawn. How can we get rid of these shoots and stop them returning?

Answered by Downtoearthdigs on July 19, 2015Certified Expert

A.

Undiluted Round Up will help kill the roots. You will need to wound the roots (normally, people cut the suckers down and use those wounds) and then paint the undiluted Round Up on the wounds. The bigger or more wounds you paint, the better.The roots will suck the Round Up in and it will kill them. You may have to repeat the process a few times to fully kill the roots if the root system is still strong.

All pruning should be done while the tree is dormant; early Spring or late Winter.

Shape the tree and prune away any dead or diseased material.
Remove any suckers as soon as they appear.

Most gardeners want the tree to have one central leader.
Once the tree reaches the desired height you can cut off the trunk just above the top branch. Maintain this height by pruning the top and tallest branches each year.

I have a three year old damson tree which yielded quite a lot of fruit last year. However despite lots of blossom this year the fruit was very deformed. I looked it up online and it appeared to be ‘plum pocket’ The recommended treatment is no longer available. And I am very concerned that it will be affected next year f Idon’t take some steps to treat it. Please can you suggest something?

Many of the fruits have fallen now but the ploys show just one and also the leaves have become very twisted and curled.

Answered by BushDoctor on June 18, 2018Certified Expert

A.

This can be treated with copper fungicides, which will be widely available. There are also reports of wettable sulfur being used as a treatment with some success as well.